


You Are The Only Thing That's Right About This Broken World

by captain_staryeyed



Series: Angel of Music(als) [4]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: 7/11, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - High School, Based on Heathers, Ben is Veronica, F/M, Rey is JD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-12 03:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20145958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_staryeyed/pseuds/captain_staryeyed
Summary: A bell chimed as Ben swung open the 7/11 door.Go in. Get a bag of chips. Get out. That’s all he had to do.And then he met her. . .Based on "Freeze Your Brain" from Heathers.





	You Are The Only Thing That's Right About This Broken World

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song "Our Love is God" from Heathers.

A bell chimed as Ben swung open the 7/11 door.

Go in. Get a bag of chips. Get out. That’s all he had to do. 

Fluorescent lights flickered overhead. The soft hum of the ice machine filled the space where the sound of people should have been. His muscles relaxed when he realized he was the only one in the small space, save for one bored-looking clerk. This gave him a chance to collect himself before he would be surrounded by throbbing music and bustling bodies for the next few hours.

He had never been much of a party guy. Of course, he had never really been invited to parties. Needless to say, it was a bit of a surprise when Michael Snoke appeared at his front door telling him to get dressed for a rager.

To be honest, this whole year had been a bit of a surprise.

Not even two months ago, the idea of any of the Michaels dropping by unannounced was laughable. But then there was that fateful day in the bathroom. A deal had been struck between Ben Solo and the Michaels. He would forge notes for them, and they would let him hang out with them so jerks like Bazine would stop picking on him.

The Michaels were the most popular guys in Courescant High. Michael Mitaka, captain of the football team and a secret bulimic, was the most human of them all, though Ben would never say that out loud. Michael Hux was sniveling power-hungry git that Ben was sure would forever remain in the shadow of Michael Snoke. 

Michael Snoke. Now that was a person whose name sent chills down everyone’s back from the student body to the school faculty. He was sure even the school guidance counselor, the ever-optimistic sees -the-good-in-everyone Ms. Holdo, feared Michael Snoke. He had the entire student body under his thumb. If you dared to cross him, your time on this earth would be limited. 

Speaking of which, Ben knew he had better hurry up getting the chips for the party with Michael Snoke impatiently waiting in his car. Lost in his own thoughts, he nearly tripped over a girl in his dash to the chip aisle.

“Hey! Watch it!” she snapped in a crisp British accent.

“Oh, sorry.”

The girl stood up from where she had been crouched on the ground and dusted herself off. 

Recognition flared in the back of his mind. His heart stopped. Her knuckles were still red and cracked from her fight with Phasma and Bazine at lunch. Ben had never seen her before this year, but ever since he saw her the first day of school, he had had a difficult time tearing his eyes away.

“You have some blood on your lip.”

“What’s it to ya?” Despite the swelling around the right one, her hazel eyes crackled with energy. 

Without dropping her gaze, she plucked a bottle of Advil from the shelf and slipped it into her jacket pocket.

“Quit staring, the cashier will get suspicious,” she said under her breath, nodding to the scruffy college kid in an employee vest, who appeared to be more interested in his comic book than the two of them. Then, slipping a tube of chapstick in her pocket, she turned and walked off.

When Ben’s brain finally caught up with what was happening, he followed her over to the fountain drinks counter.

“I . . . I thought it was cool, you standing up to Phasma and Bazine like that. They deserved it.” _Also it was totally hot, and can I have your babies?_

He didn’t say that, though. She probably thought he was weird enough as it was.

Instead of acknowledging him, she took one of the large paper cups and filled it to the brim with a blue raspberry slushie.

“So, you’re new to Courescant High?”

“Won’t be for long.”

“What do you mean?”

She tore the wrapper off of her straw and poked it through the cup’s lid. “I tend not to stick around in one place for too long.” She took a generous sip of her drink.

Ben recoiled at the sugary beverage. “Does your mother know you drink that crap?”

“Crap? I’ll have you know that this is the drink of the gods. Besides, my parents don’t care what I do.”

“Why?”

“You sure do ask a lot of questions for a stranger.”

“I’m Benjamin. Benjamin Organa-Solo,” he offered her his hand

“Nice names you got there, Benny-boy.” She regarded his hand for a moment, then accepted it. “Rey.”

She hopped up on the counter, her heels knocking against the cabinets. “Mom blew her brains out. Dad OD’ed. Took the neighbors a while to realize something was up. Nearly three days ‘til Child Services was called.”

“God.”

“Yeah. I’ll never forget the stench.” She took another sip of her slushie. “So what about you? What’s your deal?”

“My deal?”

“Yeah, up until a few weeks ago, you dressed . . . normal. Now, you look like prep school trash. And I should know, I spent almost a month at one.”

“You noticed me?”

“Hard not to, seeing that you’re a walking tree.”

Heat flamed in his cheeks. There was something intoxicating about this girl. Her apathetic candor when answering his questions. The fierce determination she displayed when taking on both Phasma and Bazine by herself. The constellation of freckles on her cheeks and the way her nose scrunched up when she smiled. Ben had had plenty crushes on girls before but never had he fallen for someone so hard so fast. It felt dangerous and at the same time thrilling to be near her.

“Hey, I’m going to a college party. Michael says it’s going to be a ‘rager.’” He took a shaky breath and collected his courage. “Do you wanna maybe come with me?

She snorted, and just like that, his bravery evaporated. 

“That’s not my scene, and I’m not too sure it’s yours either.” She pocketed a package of gum and started making her way toward the door. 

He wished he felt cooler than he was. He envied the Michaels for their abundance of confidence now more than he ever had before he had become one. How did talking to the opposite sex come so naturally for them, when he felt like he was sinking in quicksand? And on top of that, his stomach felt sick at the thought of her walking out of the convenience store with all of those stolen goods in her pockets. Perhaps that part was due to the morals his mother drilled into his head as a young kid. 

“Let me at least pay for your stuff.”

She glanced at the cashier to make sure he wasn’t looking before emptying her pockets on the counter.

The cashier finally looked up at them. He seemed to be annoyed at their very existence.

He scanned Ben’s chip bag. “Will this be all for you?”

“And a pack of cigarettes,” Rey added.

Ben furrowed his brow.

“Well, you were offering to buy my stuff.”

The cashier checked Ben’s ID, then scanned a pack of cigarettes.

“Those things will kill you, you know.”

She snorted again. “I highly doubt that.”

Ben opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted as the cashier handed him their sack. 

The two exited the 7/11, their arms occasionally brushing against each other.

They came upon a motorcycle parked out front.

“Well, this is me.” She handed him her half-finished slushie so she could dig her stuff out of the plastic bag.

A car horn honked. Ben looked over to see an irritated Michael Snoke glaring at him from behind the wheel of his Porche.

“Looks like your friend’s waiting for you.” Rey lit a cigarette and mounted her bike. “See ya around, Benny-boy.”

She revved the engine.

“What about your drink?” Ben shouted over her roaring motorcycle.

“Keep it.”

Ben watched as she tore out of the parking lot, flipping Snoke off as she left.

He took a long, contemplative sip of her drink and rejoined Snoke in his car.

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought that I was going to finish this. I've been picking up and putting this fic down since January.  
This was based on the movie, Heathers, as well as the song "Freeze Your Brain" from the musical.  
Big thanks to my bestie who gave me a second opinion on this!


End file.
